George s



(No Model.) G. S. HILTS.

DIVIDED SCREW NUT.

No. 294,f .81. Patented Mar. 1.1. 1884.

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4.,.. S e 4b 4b am 5o rating-spring for forcing the halves ofthe nutUNirn A'rnr DIVIDED SCREW-NUT.

. SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 294,781, dated Marchl1, 1884.

i Application filed December 3l, 1883. (No model.)

To all whom, t may concern:

Beit known that I, GEoRGE S. HiLrs, of Batavia, in the eaounty ofGenesee and State of New York, have invented a new and useful 5Improvement in Divided Screw-Nuts, which improvement is fully set forthin the-followin g specification and accompanying drawings.

The object of my invention is to produce a divided tapering or conicalscrew-nut for a threaded rod or screw, constructed so that bylongitudinal motion along its holder it may be opened or Ihave its partsmoved laterally away from each other to release the screw, to allow thelatter'to slide freely through it or be made by said longitudinal motionto close upon the screw at will with automatic means to expand the partsof the nut or force them asunder, to guide said partsintheirlateralmotions, so the 'threads of theV same shall at all times register or`meet evenly at their ends, and to control their longitudinal motions.

The invention consists in parts and devices herein below fullydescribed, and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, Figure l is a side sectional elevation of myinvention, in which the cup or holder for the divided nut is sectionedupon its axis with parts of the screw broken away; Fig. 2, an endelevation of the same, viewed, as indicated by arrow .fr in- Fig. l,with the screw cross-sectioned on the dotted line Fig. 3, a sideelevation of the same parts viewed in a direction at right angles tothat in which Fig. lis seen, or in the direction' indicated by arrow {1/in Fig. 1, in which the holder for the nut is sectioned along its aXistouncover the dowel-pin or guide for holding the halves of the nutsquarely opposite each other, and parts of each half-nut longitudinallysectioned to show the guiding-slots in the same; Fig. 4:, a similar viewto that shown in Fig. 3, showing a different manner of guiding thelongitudinal movements of the halves of the nut and effecting theirlateral movements; Fig. 5, a view of the inside of a half of the nutsectioned along' the axis of the latter and at right angles to the planeupon which the halves of the nut are divided, (showing one-half of eachhalf-nua) showing asepaapart; and Fig. 6, an end view of the samesectioned on the dotted line e, and viewed as indicated by the arrow inFig. 5; Fig.' 7, drawn to a scale one-third that to which the otherfigures are drawn, shows the adaptability of 5 5 the invention tomachinistsclamps.

Referring to the parts, A is a conical cup or shell, which may form apart .of any machine or implement. A

B is a screw or threaded rod passing through the cup A and made tocoincide with the axis of the latter.

C is a nut for the screw B, in the form of a truncated cone, dividedlongitudinally upon its axis into halves, and tted evenly within the cupA, which latter fo-rms a holder for said divided lint, both nut andholder .encircling the screw.

The construction of the parts described is such that if the nut becarried wholly within 7o the holder A, as shown in Fig. 3, for instance,the inclined or converging walls ofthe holder cause the halves of thenut to meet closely with their threads locked into the ythreads of thescrew, in which case the nut and screw 7 5 will operate conm]ointly,like any ordinary nut and screw. Should the nut be carriedpartiallyout of the holder to the position shown in dor. ted lines, a'ndmeans be employed to separa te the halves, as shown, or cause them,wifen 8O moving toward the more open part ofl the holder,- to remainagainst and slide aloig i th@ diverging inner walls or bearings ofthehemel-7 the threads of the halves of the nut would be drawn out of thethreads of the screw, Termit- 8 f ting the latter to be movedlongitrdinaliy through the nut and its holder at wil.. I

a, Figs.' 5and (j, is a spring, formiig anautomatic means for pushingthe halvesI ofthe divided nut asunder when thc'latter is carried 9opartly outoftheholder, as stated. This spring is a short piece ofspringbar" or wire bent nearly concentrically with the carve of the nut,embedded in a groove in the irrt in a plane at right angles with ltheaxis of thaA nut, below the bottoms of the threads of the same, and outof the way of the threads of/` 111e screw. It is about semicircular inforni extending about onehalf way aroundwithil the nut, having its endsresting at about tie middle points of roo the opposing` halves of thesame, reaching by the arrow the nut will be carried out of equally oneither side of the joint c, between the halves of the nut. The spring iscom pressed when.plaeed within the nut, and its 5 tendency to straightenkeeps the halves oi' the nut (on their convex sides) pressed against thediverging walls of the holder A, and causes them to slide along saidinclined walls as bearing or ways when the nut is moved longitudinallyin a direction either out of or into thehold- Instead ot' the spring a,above described, screws b, Fig. 4, may be elnployed to hold the halvesof the nut against their bearings upon i5 the holder A, thus drawingthem apart as they are moved toward the wider part ofthe holder. Theopposite walls oi' the holder are slotted longitudinally at d, toreceive the screws which pass through said slots and enter the convexsides of thehalf-nuts, as shown. rIhe slots admit of alongit-udinallnovement ofthe nut along its bearings with the holder, and the heads ofthe screws, sliding along the diverging exterior of the holder, draw thehalves oi' the nut asun- 2 5 der as they are moved toward the iiaring orwider part of their bearing upon the holder.

c, Fig. 3, is one of two guides, placed on opposite sides ofthe nut,resting one-halt` in each haltnut, extending across the joint c betweensaid halves of the nut. These guide-pins are bot-h secured rigidly in011e and the same halfnnt andiitted to slide in cavities in the other.

They serve to keep the halves ofthe nut at all times squarely oppositeeach other during their various movements within the holder, so thethreads will stand opposite each other or register at their ends.

'l'j", Figs. I, 2, and 3, are equal longitudinal f grooves, 'formed inthe convex sides of the re- ,Re spcctive halves ot' the nut, and r/ -r/are projections of the holder A entering the grooves f which togetherserve to guide the parts of `he nut in their longitudinal movements.rlhe p `o jeetions (,f f/ also i'orm stops for the parts of 45 tie nutand limit their longitudinal motion by mgtountering the inner ends ofthe slots as th\7 approach. rFliese grooves and projectiors arenecessary only when the spring c is used. to expand the nut. \Vhen thescrews I) are employed, they form suiiicient longitudinal ghles andstops for the nut, also, when the sp "ng a is used, the lateral guides eare not needed, said spring assuming the function of the grdes.

Fig. 7 srows a machinist-s clamp with my invention applied. llhe head Aof the clamp is formed ko hold the divided nut, and by moving the screwin the direction indicated the head and expanded sufficiently to allow6o the screw to be endwise adjusted to the work. The nut being returnedwithin the head, the screw will operate in the usual manner.

The thread upon the screw used with this device may be of any of thecommon forms ol' cross-section excepting the square.

I do not claim, broadly, a divided nut and screw, such device being old;but

Vhat I claim as my invention, and wish to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In combination with a screw, '5, and cup or holder A, made toencircle the screw, said cup or holder having inclined or divergingwalls or bearings, a divided nut, C, for the screw, iitted to saidbearings of the holder, with automatic means to i'orce the parts of thenut asunder as they are nioved toward the wider or more open part of thebearings of the holder, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In combination with a screw, B, and holder A, iittcd to encircle thescrew, said holder having diverging walls or bearings, a divided nut, C,for the screw, iitted to said bearings or walls ofthe holder, with meansto automatically guide the parts of the divided nut as they are movedlongitudinally along the bearings of the holder, substantially as shownand described.

3. The combination o1' a screw, 1B, cup or holder A, encircling saidscrew, and having diverging bearings or walls, divided nut C for thescrew, fitted to the bearings or walls of the holder, and stops r/, tolimit the longitudinal movements of the nut along the bearigigs ol' theholder, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination ot' a screw, 3, cup or holder A, encircling saidscrew, and provided with diverging bearings, a divided nut, C, for thescrew, litted to the diverging walls or bear ings of the holder, andguides for the parts ol' the nut serving to keep said parts of the nutevenly opposed to each other during their longitudinal and lateralmovements, substantially as described.

5. In combination with the body D and screw B of a clamp, a divided nut,C, substantially as described, for the screw, fitted to the head of theclamp, so as to move longitudinally along the same, and means to forcethe parts oi' the nut asunder as the latter is moved thuslongitudinally, substantially as set i'orth.

GEO. HIT/YS.

IOC

\\'itnesses:

Il. Il. XVin'rironlc, (l. l. (han.

